The Little Deerboy
by Ashynarr
Summary: One fateful day, Alfred encounters a strange young creature while making his way through the woods outside his new house. What follows is the makings of a strange friendship… (Repost, First Posted Sept 8 2013)
The Little Deer-boy (Hetalia)

Author: Ashynarr

Summary: One fateful day, Alfred encounters a strange young creature while making his way through the woods outside his new house. What follows is the makings of a strange friendship…

Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.

Warning: Nonnation, Deerboy!Matthew, Repost, First Posted Sept 8 2013

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

The only reason Alfred even knew he wasn't alone in this part of the woods was because he heard the snuffling from the bushes just off the path.

He'd decided that, since he and his older cousin had moved into the new house on the edge of the small town, he should take some time to explore the surrounding region, get to know the lay of the land... or so he'd told Arthur, anyways. In actuality he was just trying to get out of what moving-in duties he could without pissing off the Brit – which wasn't much, seeing as the other tended to complain if he was ever out for more than an hour on his 'trips'.

Another snuffling sound told Alfred it hadn't just been his imagination the first time, his gaze scrutinizing as he looked through the underbrush, trying to see what was making that noise-

There! Stepping forward as quietly as he could he pushed a few leaf-heavy branches to the side to see... well...

"A kid?" He muttered out loud, because that face staring back at him wide eyed was definitely human. But those eyes were certainly NOT a natural color, nor was the lower half of the boy, which instead of leading to two regular human legs instead became a (deer?) body and legs.

The- centaur? boy backed away, feet wobbling underneath him, never letting Al out of his sight. He let out another, louder whine-cry, and it took Alfred a moment to realize it- he, the American decided – was calling for his mother, like a fawn. When he reached the edge of the small hidden clearing he turned and bolted into the underbrush, the only sign he'd been there the small indent where he'd been hiding and the fallen leaves from his hasty departure.

Taking a moment to stare after the young centaur, and idly wondering whether he had just dreamed it up, Alfred eventually left and returned to the house and a half hour rant from Arthur, his mind mostly distracted with his earlier encounter.

He'd almost considered asking his cousin about the creature, but he wasn't quite sure what the other's reaction would be. It could range from complete disbelief that Alfred of all people would see such a thing to trying to track it down to... he wasn't even sure, to be honest. In the end he'd decided that he'd only bring the other in if he ended up not being able to handle it on his own. Besides, he didn't want to seem crazy!

...Even though he was still partially convinced it hadn't happened himself.

But Alfred had a plan for that – return to the area, maybe with some food this time, and see if he could find the little deer-boy, centaur, whatever the name was. He'd also bring his phone, since in his mind if he could get a clear shot of it it'd prove to himself, if not others, that he wasn't just seeing things.

However, said plan wasn't able to be enacted for another week, as he was quickly dragged into the storm of furniture moving, decorations, and even some yard work, followed by a day of shopping to get things they hadn't brought with them but needed along with food to stock the kitchen.

Finally, though, Alfred managed to sneak away long enough to pack a small bag with his phone, a water bottle, and some candy bars, making his way back down the path and to the spot of his first encounter. Naturally, the deer-boy wasn't there, but Alfred still vaguely remembered the direction it had run off in and, deciding it was better than nothing, went that way as well.

Nearly an hour, a candy bar, and two instances of getting turned around and backtracking to find his makeshift path later, he'd just about given up, realizing finally that the boy could be miles from the house by now and Alfred would never know. All but flopping down on the ground, he pulled out the water bottle and took a long swig, emptying it nearly a third of the way before putting it down.

Now settled against a tree trunk and still a bit tired from the walk, he didn't realize he'd started to doze off until a small noise in the underbrush caused his eyes to snap open again. Without allowing himself to move more than necessary, he allowed his gaze, now purposefully barely open, to glance to the side where the noise had come from, only to see the thing he'd been looking for for the past near hour peeking out ever so cautiously from the bushes.

Alfred all but held his breath when the deer-boy (and he had to think of a name for him, because 'deer-boy' wasn't gonna cut it) slowly stepped out, allowing him to see how young he was – barely to Al's waist were he standing up.

After about ten minutes, Al was still watching the deer-boy – Matthew, that was a good name, right? - investigate his stuff; the water bottle had been first and most obvious, Matthew sniffing at it and apparently scrunching his nose at the plastic, before turning to the bag. After picking it up and examining it from all angles, he very carefully – and surprising for Alfred – opened the bag right side up, using one hand to hold the bag while the other dug through it.

The American winced at seeing the phone pulled out and, after some prodding, dropped to the floor, but it looked okay, so he glanced back up to see Matt now investigating one of the candy bars. He'd also found the empty wrapper, sniffing at it and even licking it, before glancing back to the unopened one. Had he...

Well, there was no doubt there was some intelligence in that small mind, seeing as Matt was now attempting to get the other candy wrapper open, even though it wasn't going too well. Alfred hadn't even realized he'd opened his eyes until Matthew stopped dead, staring straight back at him. Before Al could make a move the bag and candy bar were both abandoned on the floor, Matthew once again vanishing into the woods.

Alfred sighed. It looked like that picture would have to wait after all.

~0~0~

It was almost two weeks to the next encounter, mostly because Alfred was devising a plan to at least get Matthew to trust him enough to stick around for a picture or three. Since it was clear the deer-boy had recognized the candy bar as food even in its packaging, he'd decided to bring more, and this time open them before the other showed up so he could actually get to the treat inside.

Of course, there were a lot of ways for it to go wrong, including another creature trying to get to it, but he was fairly certain he could scare off anything that wasn't a skunk or otherwise larger than himself - he didn't exactly fancy being bear chow, after all.

This time, once he made his way back to the clearing where he'd last encountered Matt, he chose to settle down in the same spot as before, hoping that the other might come to him again. He also made sure to leave one of the candy bars partially unwrapped and laying several feet from him on the ground.

He wasn't disappointed when, only twenty minutes later, Matthew once again decided to appear, this time staring for a few moments at Al's face, as if seeing through his fake slumber, before the smell of the warm chocolate drew his attention away. The deer-boy tasted the treat tentatively, before deciding it was safe and eagerly finished it off.

Then his attention was to the bag near Alfred, and his hesitance returned. Clearly he wanted more of the chocolate, but didn't want to get near Alfred to get it. The American decided that now was as good a time as any, startling Matthew to the edge – but not out! - of the clearing when he slowly reached for the bag. He tore open another bar and threw it out, the landing making Matt jump back a bit, staring between Alfred and the bar.

"It's alright, I'm not gonna do anything..." Alfred said quietly, waiting to see what Matt would do next. He smiled a bit on seeing Matt step forward a bit again, grabbing the candy before retreating to his spot and eating it, still watching Alfred with a cautious eye. Feeling emboldened with his success thus far, Alfred began to reach for his phone before realizing he'd forgotten it this time at the house due to needing to charge it.

Well, it wouldn't be a complete loss, since apparently Matt trusted him enough to at least not flee instantly. He wondered how far he could push it, unwrapping a third bar and, instead of tossing it, holding it out towards the deer-boy.

It was a bust, unfortunately. After staring between Al and the candy, Matthew had shaken his head and darted away, leaving the American alone again. Shrugging, he took a bite out of it, figuring some progress was better than nothing. His new goal at this point was to try to earn Matthew's trust, mostly to see if he could but also because he really wanted to see just how intelligent he was...

The following month followed a simple enough pattern – Alfred would go out on Saturdays armed with sweets, leaving one out for Matt and keep the others with him. Once the deer-boy showed up, he'd talk softly, occasionally throwing out a candy bar or two and then ending it by making his offer and Matthew darting off. Each meeting lasted a little longer, Matthew coming a little closer, but it still felt much too slow in Al's opinion.

The week after that, Matthew didn't show up, even after an hour. When he finally allowed himself to get up and recover the abandoned chocolate, he refused to admit to worry, figuring Matt might have just moved on with whatever family he might have. However, the knot of worry eventually overrode the disappointment of the latter thought, and he decided it couldn't hurt to at least check around a bit, just to make sure.

It wasn't even five minutes before he heard the faint whine-cry he recognized as Matt's, heading straight for it only to see something that made his throat tighten.

One of the deer-boy's legs was stuck in a hunter trap, and from the looks of things he'd been in there for more than just an hour.

Matt seemed to perk up slightly on seeing him, although his deer-like ears were still folded back against his head.

"Hold on, lemme just get you out of there, alright?" He told the deer-boy, stepping forward slowly, eying the trap and figuring out how he needed to open it. Matt shook a bit as he approached, obviously his instincts telling him to run, but either exhaustion or trust kept him from moving when Al knelt down, using his jacket as cushioning while he forced the trap to open just enough for Matt to pull his leg out.

Once he was clear Matt hopped away a few feet, the injured leg held off the ground and still bloody where the teeth had dug in. Alfred allowed the trap to snap closed again, wincing as it closed in on the jacket's edge, tearing a hole into the fabric. At least it hadn't been his favorite jacket, the old bomber one he'd gotten from his grandpa as a kid.

He glanced back to Matt, surprised the deer-boy was still there and not running off to his parents. Pulling his jacket the rest of the way out, he glanced back again and decided that if Matt was sticking around, maybe the ruined clothes could be put to new use.

Tearing a strip out, he stepped towards Matt, intending to clean and dress the wound as best he could, only to pause as Matt stepped away, stumbling from moving backwards. "Look, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? I just wanna help..."

At the continued wary look, he sighed, trying to think of a way to convince the other he had good intentions. Maybe... he decided it couldn't hurt at least, handing out another bar which, he realized only after opening it, was actually a granola bar instead. Arthur must have switched out some of the candy for them when he wasn't looking, probably as a desperate attempt to curb what he saw as unhealthy eating habits.

But whatever the goal had been, it worked in Al's favor, Matt's interest obtained thanks to the food. Stepped forward again, he handed the bar out, lightly tossing it into the other's hands. Once the deer-boy was chewing on it, Alfred found himself able to approach, the other watching him as he knelt down, cloth and water bottle in hand.

Cleaning it was actually easy enough with Matt cooperating, and with the blood and dirt washed away and the cloth tied around it it was likely the deer-boy would recover with few ill-effects. He sat back and laughed, relieved that he'd been able to do something to help after all. "Looks like you'll be just fine, Mattie."

It seemed the day hadn't run through its supply of surprises quite yet, as instead of heading off Matthew chose to, awkwardly, settle down next to him, not even moving to run when Alfred, ever so slowly, started to run a hand through his hair, the soft strands only broken by two small bumps he realized after a bit were where the antlers would grow in; instead Matthew shut his eyes and leaned into the petting, bringing a smile to Alfred's face.

~0~0~

The following week Alfred stopped by daily, armed with a mix of nuts, fruit, and chocolate in both bar and trail mix forms. Matthew seemed to take well to the latter, happily stuffing handfuls at a time into his mouth while Al checked the wound to make sure it was healing properly and re-wrapped it with fresh bandages. He'd had to spend some of his part-time job money to buy bandages so Arthur wouldn't notice them missing, but it was definitely worth it for the time spent hanging out with the fawn. Matthew didn't seem to mind any of his rambling during their get togethers, just listening attentively. At first it'd been cute, and sorta nice, having him pay attention to him.

Then came the day he'd had to leave early since he was clocked for a double shift the next day and needed the sleep. Matthew had tried to keep Alfred there, holding onto his shirt and giving him the most pleading look he could muster. It was definitely powerful, but Alfred somehow gathered the will to speak up.

"Mattie, you know I can't stay. I promise I'll be by tomorrow, okay?"

He'd moved to gently remove Matt's hands.

"No."

Alfred stopped, looking straight at the petulant fawn. "...wha...?" He couldn't have heard that right-

"Al stay wit' Mattie."

Well. Apparently Matthew had been listening after all. Definitely not what he'd expected to come out of all of this.

"Mattie-"

"No go! Stay wit' Mattie."

On one hand there was no doubt Matt was intelligent at this point, not that he'd been harboring doubts, but now was not exactly the best time to start showing off. Sighing, he bent down, ruffling Matt's hair and making him pout more.

"I promise I'll be back tomorrow, alright?"

Matthew huffed, not saying anything.

"...and I'll bring more chocolate to make up."

This seemed to work, and the pout lighten considerably.

"Pomise come back?"

Alfred grinned. "Promise."

Matthew nodded, giving Al one last hug before backing away, allowing the American to leave. On the way back Alfred glanced behind him, feeling watched but unable to locate the source. It went away once he left the woods, but he still couldn't shake the feeling of something being different now.

Another two weeks passed in a similar fashion, although now that Al knew Matt could both understand and speak English, spend less time rambling and more time helping Matt practice. The fawn's vocabulary and grammar quickly expanded, and Al could already tell he was getting closer to his apparent age group in terms of such. Sometimes the lessons almost made him feel like Arthur, and he'd have to shiver the comparison off, but Matt was eager enough to learn.

Alfred had asked, several times, where Matthew's parents had been, each time the fawn not saying anything before changing the subject. The last time he asked, Matthew had only sullenly replied with a 'gone' and refused to speak anymore. The American let it drop after that, even though it only sparked his curiosity... and worries.

What would it mean for Matt if there was no one to take care of him? Alfred was doing his best right now while Matt was recovering, but after that? He knew he was in no way qualified to take care of another human being, much less a supposedly mythical creature. And Arthur was suspicious enough with his constant forays from the house, but it wasn't like he could just do nothing!

Well, at least he still had a bit of time to decide what to do while Matt was recovering. Maybe he'd think of something by then. The thought cheered him up enough so he could properly enjoy the flower jewelry Mat has insisted on making him.

Sadly, fate had other plans in mind, as not two days later he was woken up by two startled yells, both very familiar.

~0~0~

The human home seemed easy enough to get into. The entrance was blocked by wood, yes, but the wood swung open by twisting the metal bit and pulling it out.

Matthew watched the house until all the lights were out before slowly exiting the woods, grateful that Al's home was far from other human homes and thus making it less likely he'd be caught.

Since his parents had disappeared on him, he'd been stuck foraging for himself from too young an age. And naturally, being so small made a lot more things potential predators, especially humans, so he'd had to develop a rather large cautious streak to survive.

Then he'd met Alfred.

Of course, he'd done the sensible thing and run at first, the human not chasing after to his relief. The second time he thought it'd been safe enough, since the human was asleep, but apparently his investigating the bag and water bottle had woken the other up, sending him running again.

Both times Alfred hadn't pursued, just watched him go, so he'd – after much debate – decided to linger for a bit just to see what the human did if he stayed. Much to his surprise, all that happened was that he got more food and a rather chatty human, even if the words weren't easy to figure out at first. The one's he'd figured out first were the names, both the human's own name and the one he'd made for him.

Other words came eventually, mostly thanks to repeat use on Al's part, although he was reluctant to show said talent lest the human react negatively. He'd figured the human would grow bored eventually and leave, and then things would go back to normal.

Then came the trap.

He had no idea when it'd been put there or how he'd missed it, only that one minute he was fine and the next he was screaming as pain shot up his leg. He had no idea how long he'd been stuck there, alternating between trying to escape, crying out for someone to help, and attempting to get what rest he could.

Then the human – Alfred had shown up, staring at him and the trap with surprise and worry. The thought crossed his mind, briefly, that this trap might have belonged to Alfred, but he sincerely doubted it, since the only place he went to in the woods was to the clearing. Matthew knew that specifically because he watched Alfred both enter and leave the woods, making sure he didn't try to double back or do anything strange.

Once he was out of the trap, he almost let his first instinct to run and hide while he healed kick in, but held back, wanting to see what the human did next. He was a clearly wounded and vulnerable target; would the human take advantage of it?

As it turned out, he didn't. Instead, he was fed a different human food that tasted even better than the previous ones, filled with delicious nuts, and the wound was washed and covered with the human cloth. He decided then and there that this human, at least, was worth keeping around, since he seemed so dedicated to acting as a protector of sorts.

The following days passed by quickly, the human stopping by every day to check in on him and talk to him. He hadn't realized how much he'd missed having so much attention on him, and began truly looking forward to his time with Alfred. When the other had to go it always upset him, but he knew that the human couldn't stay; the other humans would eventually come looking for him, and that would be bad for both of them.

But when Alfred had to leave early, he just had to stop him. What if Alfred was growing bored after all, and decided to leave him alone again?

So he'd spoken, clearly startling Alfred. He kept going, pleading as best he could, and when it didn't work he'd felt crushed. But Alfred had given him that smile and reassurance, and felt that maybe things would be okay after all.

After some thought, he'd come to realize that humans were busy creatures, almost like ants in how they always seemed to work work work and never relax. Maybe it was just this natural human business that was keeping Alfred away. It was a reassuring thought, as it meant Alfred didn't necessarily want to leave him. But what if Alfred just got too busy to visit?

A stray thought came to him then; what if he visited Alfred instead?

It was almost immediately dismissed as a Bad Idea, seeing as it was bad enough getting caught in the woods, but in a human home? There was no way it'd end well.

But... humans slept occasionally too, right? Maybe he could just... sneak in while they were sleeping, maybe poke around a bit, and leave without anyone knowing he was there. If he understood more about Alfred's life away from the woods maybe he could find a way to get more time with him.

That was what, after many days of observation, brought him to the wood-blocked entrance, ready to enact his plan. Only, there was a hitch – the wood refused to so much as budge, and the handle didn't twist under his hand.

Pulling away, he huffed in frustration. Did humans have some weird magic that kept nonhumans from entering the house? No, there was that small opening at the bottom of the wood that the cat would slink in and out of sometimes, so it was just the metal part that didn't work.

There was a growling noise from behind him, and Matt jumped and turned to see the cat glaring at him, teeth bared. He tried to get it to quiet down, but it only responded by growling louder.

Hearing movement inside the house, he tried to make his escape only to startle back as the cat took a swipe at him, seeming much bigger and more frightening than he recalled.

The door behind him opened, an unfamiliar voice grinding out words.

"Stupid bloody cat, I told you to stop fighting with the neighbor's cats-"

Matthew stared into startled green eyes, while said owner of the green eyes stared back at him. He did the only thing that came to mind, which was yell, apparently the same idea the human had as well.

~0~0~

Alfred all but leapt down the last few steps, swinging around at the bottom to face the hall leading to the back door. He had little time to take in the scene before Matt, upon spotting him, quickly bolted under Arthur's arm and all but plowed into him, shaking like a leaf and clinging tight. Without thinking he knelt down, holding Matt and murmuring reassurances to try and calm him down.

"Alfred, what-" Arthur started to ask once he'd gotten over the initial shock factor, only to be silenced by a look from Alfred when it made Matt realize the other human was still there and watching them, causing the shaking to return full force.

Only once the shaking was gone did Al pull Matt away gently, looking him in the eye. "Matt, what are you doing here?"

"You always have to leave, and I don't like being on my own, so I came to see you so I could see what was keeping you away all the time. I wasn't gonna stay, but then that- that monster outside wouldn't let me go and it just kept growling and swiping at me and then the other human showed up and you weren't there-"

"Shh." Alfred sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I have no idea why you couldn't wait for me to come back tomorrow to tell me you felt that way, but I'll let it slide. Also, I don't think my cousin wants to be known as 'the other human', so just call him Arthur or Artie like I do."

Arthur shot him a Look, enhanced by the late hour.

"...give me a few minutes to calm the angry Brit you woke up, alright?"

Matt glanced between him and Arthur, deciding that maybe it would be better to hide behind Al.

"...Alfred..." Arthur started again, his tone even.

"I ran into him in the woods, alright? I thought I was seeing things the first time, so I went back with a some food and a camera and then some stuff happened and he started trusting me and- yeah."

"That was the least eloquent explanation I have ever gotten out of you. I thought you didn't even believe in creatures like him!"

"First off, his name is Matthew, second, I said without proof – I'm pretty sure you moving stuff when my back is turned and saying faeries did it isn't exactly proof."

"It was the fey, you-" Arthur sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them again he glanced to Matthew before returning his attention to Alfred. "Why didn't you at least say something? You know I know more than you about this sort of thing."

"Hey, I did just fine!"

"And what if your actions led to him being caught by someone with less than pure intentions?"

Alfred frowned. "Look, I wasn't going to just leave him to die when I could do something-"

"Die?" The Brit's eyebrows furrowed. "You never mentioned anything about that."

"...he was caught in a trap, probably for days. I figured after that he wouldn't want anything to do with people, but from what he's told me... he doesn't have anyone else to turn to. So he sorta latched onto me I guess."

"No family at all?"

Alfred shrugged. "Gone. His word, not mine."

Arthur sighed again, rubbing his forehead. "Only you could pull off something like this, Alfred." His attention moved back to Matthew, who had been watching the exchange silently from behind the American. "I assume you want to leave now?"

When Matthew realized he was being addressed, he glanced back out the door, shaking his head. "No, monster's still out there."

Alfred muffled his snort. "Don't worry, I won't let it get you, alright?"

"Alfred-"

"Just tonight – we can decide what to do when we aren't both half asleep."

"...fine, but he stays with you, and if he makes a mess he's out."

"Yeah yeah, give him a little credit."

Matthew just clang tighter, unsure of whether to be happy or not. On one hand he was still with Alfred, on the other, he was stuck in the cramped and unknown human home with his only way out being closed off.

Alfred rested a hand on his head, offering a quiet reassurance.

...Maybe it'd be okay for now.

~0~0~

The bed was a no go right away, seeing as even if Matt could get up there on his own he'd likely get everything dirty and torn, and possibly get tangled up in the sheets trying to get off later. Not a recipe for safety by any means.

With that in mind, Al was soon lying on the floor beside the bed with a quilt and pillow, Matt curled up next to him, head resting on Alfred's shoulder while he quietly snoozed. The American sighed, wondering how everything had come to this.

At the time he hadn't really thought much about why Matthew had gotten attached so quickly, more focused on getting to know about the fawn. After that small outburst earlier and combined with earlier comments and observations, it was starting to create a worrying picture. He'd assumed at first that Matthew parents had met an unfortunate end and that Matthew had managed to escape what had gotten them. It made enough sense, right?

Well, what if that wasn't the case? What then?

He sighed, running a gentle hand over Matt's hair so as to not wake him up.

Alfred felt in way over his head. He hadn't signed up to act as a substitute parent; he'd just wanted some nice pics for his phone so he could later say "Check out this picture I got!" to kids and watch them gasp in awe. There's no way he'd convince anyone his age or older with the photos anyways, so he might as well get some use out of them, right?

Matt seemed like he'd been doing just fine on his own before Al showed up, so what had changed? Was it the food, or maybe the trap? Both? Something else entirely?

Matthew shifted, scooting closer to Al and sighing quietly as one of his hands found purchase in the American's shirt, soon drifting back into his deep sleep. Alfred smiled a bit at the side, finally laying back and closing his eyes.

Maybe... maybe it wouldn't be so bad. After all, he'd never really had a little brother before...

~0~0~

The following morning played host to a strange sight – both of the young men quietly drinking black tea without any complaints, or indeed anything said at all, while a young deer-centaur glanced between the two of them, quietly chewing on a granola bar and making an effort to not be noticed.

"So," Arthur finally said, setting his empty cup down. "What are we going to do about this?"

Alfred didn't even pretend to not understand what his cousin meant. "I don't know. It'd be nice to have him around, but neither of us have any clue how to help take care of him, plus he seemed to be doing okay on his own before I met him."

Arthur nodded slowly. "You've thought about this quite a bit."

The American shrugged. "I just want what's best for him, ya know? He's a good kid, and I don't wanna mess that up."

"Mmm." The Briton poured himself another cup, sipping at it before responding. "Well, you're right about one thing, and that's that we are in no way capable of raising him. What would we do, raise him as a human? He needs to be with his own people, if we can find them that is."

Alfred frowned. "That's just the thing – I don't know if there are any others around, otherwise Matt would be with them and not us, right?"

"There has to be more somewhere around this area; all we need to do is find them."

"How?"

"I don't know, but it's better than doing nothing-"

Matthew, growing increasingly agitated at the turn the conversation had taken, finally spoke up. "NO!"

Silence descended over the kitchen, both humans turned to the youngest person in the house with some surprise, apparently having forgotten he was there. "Matt...?"

" 'm not going back. Staying here."

"Matthew, you should be with your own kind-"

"They don't want me. Al does. I stay with Al."

Arthur's brows furrowed. "What do you mean they don't want you?"

Matthew shifted in place, realizing he'd said to much, and shook his head. Alfred knelt down so he was level with the deerboy.

"Matt, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but it would really help us understand why you can't go back."

He seemed to consider this for a bit, but ultimately shook his head again. "Don't have words for it."

"Alright, that's fine." Alfred ruffled his hair before getting up.

"Alfred..."

"What else are we gonna do, forcibly take him back? He doesn't want to be there and he knows the area around here better than we do – he'd probably be back within a week and still hold a grudge against you for it."

Arthur sighed, rubbing his face. "I don't like this. There's too much that can go wrong."

Alfred grinned, slinging an arm around him. "Stop being so pessimistic – just think of it as having a new little brother you can spoil."

If there was one way to get Arthur to do something, it was to bring up how it would prove him better than his own older brothers whom he had rarely gotten along with. Of course, Arthur was also well aware of this tendency but really couldn't do anything to stop what he saw as a personal challenge.

"Fine, but you're responsible for him. Make sure he knows how to behave around the house and at least some basic manners." The Briton then grinned. "And, since I've noticed he's mostly vegetarian, in order to make him feel comfortable we're going to have to start eating healthier. That means no more weekly burger runs."

Alfred's jaw dropped, complete and utter betrayal in his eyes. "You wouldn't."

Arthur beamed. "It's for the best."

Matthew really had no idea what they were talking about at this point but, watching Alfred break down in clearly fake sobbing while Arthur cackled, he decided that it was probably for the best.

At least one thing was clear; he was here, possibly to stay, and he'd never thought such a thing would feel so nice coming from a few humans. But life was funny that way; taking one family only to give him another...

Things would turn out okay.

There was a crash as Alfred tripped backwards over a chair, sending him to the floor and Arthur into a fit of laughter.

Well, mostly anyways.

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

AN: Wow, I was really torn about reposting this for a while, but I figure the main story isn't TERRIBLE, even though it's really really old, so... shrugs? I'm not reposting the drabbles with this tho because those are really sort of like eh comparatively, which is saying something! But... Enjoy? Don't enjoy? Shrugs?


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